Palm Beach Post (Florida) May 17, 2007 Thursday FINAL EDITION DISTANCING HERSELF BYLINE: By BRIAN BIGGANE Palm Beach Post Staff Writer SECTION: SPORTS; Pg. 1C Olympic marathon champion Joan Benoit Samuelson, whose daughter now runs cross-country at Bates College in Maine, said she would encourage young runners not to make the sport the complete focus of their lives. "If something does go awry and that's your total focus, it's hard to maintain a healthy outlook on life," Benoit Samuelson said. "I would discourage her from doing road races except for on an occasional basis." Brasovan has limited that activity to The Race for the Cure, which she has won the past two years. "Most coaches who have worked with her have held her back a bit," Friend-Uhl said. "I've told her to always be inquisitive. The more you understand, the more you're going to get out of it." Motivation: Brasovan has gotten used to running by herself, even during races. When she broke the state 3,200-meter record, she lapped all but three of 16 runners and won by nearly 300 yards. Malloy, who said she won her mile races by an average of 30 seconds one year, said it "really didn't matter" if she had competition as long as someone had a stopwatch. Brasovan has a similar competitive gene, and she knows there are plenty of runners out there who can test her. "There is competition across the country, and I want to prepare myself for the bigger races," she said. Wellington cross-country coach Sal Mucino said his motivational technique was to challenge Brasovan to improve her speed in the 1,600 meters, which she has done, going from a best of 5:02.52 as a freshman to 4:55.97 this year, losing in the state final by an eyelash to Emilie Amaro of Weston-Cypress Bay. Mucino said Brasovan "can be quite good in the shorter distances," but Brasovan isn't so sure. "I have a bigger stride than most girls, but my legs need to move faster," she said. One thing Brasovan shouldn't expect is too big a push from her mother. Pet-rich, a tennis prodigy who played collegiately at Auburn, said she was pressured so much by her father, she'd lost interest in the sport by her senior year. "I haven't picked up a racket since," she said. "I won't do that to Ashley. She could never get any faster than she is now and get a scholarship to a pres-tigious school. That would be great. I just want her to have fun." The only true setback in Brasovan's budding career came at a qualifier for the Foot Locker National Championships in December in Charlotte, N.C. On a hilly course and a chilly day, she finished 19th in the 5K in 18:01, 80 seconds off her time when she had set the Florida 5K prep record two months earlier. That disappointing performance prompted a visit from Trent Sanderson, a for-mer Florida State assistant coach who runs the Crested Butte Running Academy in Colorado, where Brasovan likely will train this summer. Sanderson spent a day talking to Brasovan and her mother about running and Ashley's future. "She was favored to win that race, and coming up short is probably the best thing to happen to her," Sanderson said. "We put together a plan that day and she's obviously bought into it. "Runners around the country are looking at her as doing amazing things right now. She's probably 10 times more famous in California than she is in Florida. "She's pretty awesome." PUBLICATION-TYPE: Newspaper Copyright 2007 The Palm Beach Newspapers, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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